Billboard CD reviews as presented by Reuters from New York
Artist: Merle Haggard
Album: I am What I am (Vanguard Records)
It’s not so much that Merle Haggard has established himself as an American gem on his ambitious releases in the past decade; it’s that we finally took notice. He’s gone from the angry “Okie From Muskogee” to a weathered everyman poet with a Western twang and a California kind of country swing that puts melodic heft behind musings on the human condition. On the new set, “I Am What I Am,” he sings about seeing “our greatest leaders break people’s hearts” and his own shortcomings (“Bad Actor,” “How Did You Find Me Here”). The waltzing “Oil Tanker Train” is evocative enough to put listeners right on the tracks, while “Mexican Bands” serves up a guided tour along the Tex-Mex border. On the title track Haggard delivers the hall-of-fame-worthy couplet, “I believe Jesus is God” Toward the end of the set, he intones, “I do what I do ‘cause I give a damn.” We’re damn glad he still does.
Artist: B.O.B
Album: B.O.B Presents: The Avent-ures Of Bobby Ray (Atlantic Records)
Weaving together hip-hop, rock influences and futuristic sounds, Atlanta newcomer B.o.B addresses beautiful girls, ambition and all things sci-fi on his vibrant guest-heavy debut album, “B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray.” The opening track, “Don’t Let Me Fall,” showcases the rapper’s smoothed-voice singing talent and vulnerability (“They say what goes up must come down/But don’t let me fall”) over a booming guitar, while “Magic” (featuring Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo) takes a more pop-driven direction. In contrast, on the aggressive “Bet I” (featuring T.I. and Playboy Tre), B.o.B exhibits rawer vocals with a Southern flavor, and standout “Airplanes, Part II” (featuring Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Eminem) touches on the rapper’s hopes and drive for success. But the set’s most dynamic song is “5th Dimension,” which finds Ricco Barrino belting in Motown fashion. On the track, B.o.B channels his inner Lil Wayne circa “Phone Home”: “They try to hold me down/But man it’s me they can’t contain,” he raps.
Artist: Mary Chapin Carpenter
Album: The Age Of Miracles (Zoe/-Rounder Records)
For more than 20 years, Mary Chapin Carpenter has consistently blended insightful observation with melodic hooks and folk-country arrangements. Her 10th studio album, “The Age of Miracles” (and second on Rounder after a run with Columbia that yielded five Grammy Awards), adds a familiar yet essential new chapter to her rich catalog. Musically, the set’s highlights include the uptempo “I Put My Ring Back On” (featuring Vince Gill) and first single “The Way I Feel,” the latter being the perfect radio soundtrack to carefree drives in the upcoming summer months. As the album title suggests, Carpenter contemplates world issues with optimism. “You think you’re just standing still/One day you’ll get up that hill,” she sings on the joyous, swaying title track. With “The Age of Miracles,” Carpenter’s talents remain timeless.
Artist: Widespread Panic
Album: Dirty Side Down (ATO Records)
The recording studio is generally considered anathema to those in the jam band community. But Georgia sextet Widespread Panic has quietly discovered how to make very good albums that carefully balance its chops as players and songwriters. Its new album, “Dirty Side Down,” plays to all the band’s strengths, from the intricate weaving of John Bell’s and Jimmy Herring’s guitars with John Hermann’s keyboards to a stylistic sweep that spans from the epic, prog-like opening suite, “Saint Ex,” to breezier fare like the title track and the spritely gallop of “Clinic Cynic.” The band shuffles in a bluesy vein on “Visiting Day” and “Shut Up and Drive,” while dipping into jazz on the instrumental “St. Louis” and taking an R&B turn with the bouncy “Jaded Tourist.” A rootsy cover of the late Vic Chesnutt’s “This Cruel Thing” and the classic lament “When You Coming Home” are quieter and more atmospheric. This is an accomplished work from a group that understands itself completely, deftly straddling the line between instinct and craft.
Artist:Peter Frampton
Album: Thank You Mr. Churchill (New Door Records)
Peter Frampton’s newest album, “Thank You Mr. Churchill,” reinforces the artist’s status as a rock guitar veteran and finds him exploring new plateaus. Sculpted around Frampton’s fret work, the new set has a heavier, more immediate sound that deviates from the melodic flow of his Grammy Award-winning 2006 release, “Fingerprints.” Against a persistent guitar riff on the title track, Frampton thanks Winston Churchill for bringing his father back from Word War II, which ultimately allowed him to be born, but he places it in a broader context of “waging peace, instead of waging war.” The autobiographical track “Vaudeville Nanna and the Banjolele” features a mellow ukulele groove combined with soft percussion, and on the two-part instrumental “Suite Liberte,” Frampton sticks to what he does best: playing beautiful, Pink Floyd-like guitar melodies. The Funk Brothers join in on “Invisible Man,” a Motown tribute that incorporates a number of Hitsville USA titles and surprisingly finds Frampton getting funky on the guitar.
Artist: Broken Social Scene
Album: Forgiveness Rock Record (Arts & Crafts)
Toronto collective Broken Social Scene’s fourth album, “Forgiveness Rock Record,” finds the group doing the unthinkable: whittling its lineup of as many as 19 members down to six and writing songs with choruses. On the new set, Broken Social Scene embraces its pop sensibilities like never before. The track “Water in Hell” is an anthemic rocker with a catchy, shout-along chorus, and “Forced to Love” combines the band’s usual grit and a hook that unexpectedly sticks, similar to “Cause = Time” from its 2002 breakthrough release, “You Forgot It in People.” Strangely enough, the new album’s less pop-driven songs are hit-and-miss — strings and pounding percussion build tension on the aptly titled “Chase Scene,” laying the foundation for an irresistibly dark chant. But closing track “Me and My Hand” struggles to keep up; its droning vocals are no match for the rest of the set’s fervor.
Artist: Balkan Beat Box
Album: Blue Eyed Black Boy (Nat-Geo Records)
Many indie acts fuse genres to stay ahead of the curve, and the result is often less than the sum of its parts. Not so with Brooklyn trio Balkan Beat Box, whose distinctive blend of world-fusion electronica brings wild unpredictability on its latest album, “Blue Eyed Black Boy.” The title track features muted trumpet and shimmering guitar that are colored by lyrics about race and discrimination, and the band showcases its reggae sensibilities on “Move It,” where dub horn is swapped for gypsy melodies. “Dancing With the Moon” starts slowly before breaking into Balkan-flavored dancehall. Recorded in Belgrade and Tel Aviv, the set’s tension is reflected on “Look Them Act” (“There’s a real strong smell of Armageddon/And I’m Mediterranean, I’m a Yemani Arabi Israelian”). Distilling Mediterranean grooves, Arabian modality and dance-worthy hip-hop beats, Balkan Beat Box crafts a cocktail fit to please world, hip-hop and dancehall fans alike.
Artist:Bullet For My Valentine
Album:Fever  (Zomba Records)
Success doesn’t seem to soothe the savage beast that rages within Bullet for My Valentine frontman Matt Tuck. Although his group has made its mark on the metalcore underground, Tuck spends most of the Welsh quartet’s new album spewing venomous tirades at a variety of villains who have done him wrong. But he does it in a polished fashion that makes “Fever” the band’s most commercial outing yet. From the ballady, made-for-airplay track “A Place Where You Belong” to hooky speed rockers like “The Last Fight” and “Pleasure and Pain,” the set comfortably straddles the Mayhem/Warped festival divide. And the song “Alone” offers six minutes of epic ebb-and-flow orchestration, while a few Cookie Monster growls still pop up in “Breaking Out, Breaking Down,” “Begging for Mercy” and the defiant “Dignity.” But it’s clear on “Fever” that Bullet for My Valentine is hot to step closer to the metal mainstream.
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Billboard Single reviews as presented by Reuters from New York
Artist: Eminem
Single: Not Afraid (Aftermath Records)
No Kim Kardashian barbs here. With “Not Afraid,” Eminem seems to have finally recognized that his fans don’t need a middling, starlet-bashing lead single from their favorite rapper. The “Recovery” campaign instead begins with a vivid kiss-off whose bloodlines easily trace back to “Lose Yourself,” Em’s Academy Award-winning “8 Mile” anthem. This time, the Detroit MC fully sings the motivational lyrics, and surprisingly well. “We’ll walk this road together, through the storm/Whatever weather, cold or warm,” he belts over rolling snares and cinematic strings, supplied by in-demand producer Boi-1da. His rhyming virtuosic as ever, Eminem makes his first verse the most lithe, his second the most self-critical and the third the most personal. “Not Afraid” is somewhat burdened by sing-along cliches, but its revenge-of-the-downtrodden sentiment is a powerful one that should unite all Eminem Stans — and there are many.
Artist: Ozzy Osbourne
Single: Let Me Hear You Scream (Epic Records)
Ozzy Osbourne’s first single in three years debuted on “CSI: New York” — the show’s dark and grisly tone made “Let Me Hear You Scream” a fitting choice. Atop a buzz-saw guitar riff (for the first time since 1986, not provided by longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde), Osbourne pulls no punches. “I’m black and blue, beat up and scared,” he sings before declaring, “It’s do or die, only the strong survive.” After a powerful pre-chorus where Osbourne pushes the limits of his vocal range, the track gives way to a disjointed chorus that fails to pack the punch the Prince of Darkness probably intended. “Scream” might have considerably more hard-rock bite than Osbourne’s other recent offerings, but it doesn’t go anywhere new.
Artist: Dave Barnes
Single: God Gave Me You (Razor & Tie)
Dave Barnes has long been one of Nashville’s best-kept secrets. A talented pop singer-songwriter with a penchant for writing memorable lyrics, he has an impressive gallery of fans that includes Amy Grant, Bonnie Raitt, Marc Cohn and the members of Lady Antebellum. Barnes’ fan base has widened considerably thanks to this eloquent love song, which Christian radio has embraced. Barnes has a warm, engaging voice, and his writing is direct and conversational. Not preachy or treacly, the song’s heartfelt sentiment perfectly suits mainstream country radio, and some stations in that genre are already flirting with it. Ultimately, though, it sounds like a big old pop hit. Everyone loves a love song, and “God Gave Me You” has the potential to become a wedding staple for decades to come.
Artist: Charice
Single: Pyramid (Reprise Recor-ds)
Charice has long counted Oprah Winfrey as one of her biggest fans, but the 18-year-old captured a global audience in 2009 with her easy-listening ballad “Note to God.” On “Pyramid,” Charice — with help from Iyaz — delivers a radio-friendly number about defying the odds while displaying the kind of vocal range that other budding pop stars simply don’t have. Written by a large group of mostly young songwriters, “Pyramid” ultimately sounds believable because of Charice’s conviction in her delivery. “Pyramid, we built this on a solid rock/It feels just like it’s heaven’s touch/Together at the top, like a pyramid,” she sings. An already high-charting dance mix loops Charice’s “oh, oh, oh” runs to crank up the energy even further. Like any strong pop song, expect this one to scale multiple charts.
Artist:JLS
Single:: Everybody In Love (101 Distribution)
JLS rose to UK fame when it competed on the 2008 season of “The X Factor,” then followed its runner-up finish by dominating the singles and albums charts. Now, the group is bringing its harmonies stateside with the infectiously rhythmic “Everybody in Love.” The chorus recalls hits by ‘90s male R&B groups like Boyz II Men and All-4-One, as JLS yearns in unison for a long-distance love: “Cause every minute’s like an hour, every hour’s like a day/Every day lasts forever, but what else am I gonna do/I’d wait forever and a day for you.” Vocals take center stage, wrapping around an understated drumbeat. Already spinning on top 40 WHTZ New York, “Everybody in Love” is destined to make a splash this side of the Atlantic.

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DETROIT: Its all-star members may be working on other projects — the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album for Chad Smith, solo sets for Sammy Hagar and Joe Satriani — but Chickenfoot has already started work on its sophomore album.
“This time around it doesn’t seem too scary to try to pull it off,” guitarist Satriani says. “We know we’ve done it once. The whole scheduling thing doesn’t scare us like it did last time. We’re more relaxed about the fact everyone has got crazy schedules and know that when we do get together, it’s really fun.”
The quartet, which also includes former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, had a “very productive” session in April, before the launch party for the group’s concert DVD, “Get Your Buzz On Live,” at Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Chickenfoot will spend most of September working on the album, then reconvene in late January and early February for “wrap-up sessions,” with a spring 2011 release planned, again via Best Buy.
Satriani says he expects to have “probably 20 (more) songs to lay on everybody when we get together again.” A producer hasn’t yet been chosen for the album, but Andy Johns and Mike Fraser, who both worked on 2008’s “Chickenfoot” debut, are leading candidates.